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Fri/Sat/Sun February 2~4, 2018

LEBRON JAMES scored 24 points and turned away Miami’s James Johnson before he could get off a shot in the fi nal seconds as the Cleveland Cavaliers began a long stretch without injured All-Star Kevin Love by holding off the Heat 91-89 Wednesday night.

“I was going downhill against him. I liked what I was doing. The only thing is, he’s LeBron,” Johnson said.

With the Cavs clinging to a two-point lead after Kyle Korver made one of two free throws, Johnson drove the right side for a potential game-tying shot, but was stopped in his tracks by James on the baseline.

Johnson then fumbled the ball away as the horn sounded.

“I don’t know if there’s any-body else back there that would have stopped J.J. from getting to the rim,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“We’ve seen it before. LeBron met him and was able to stop him basically in the paint. I don’t think there’s anybody else in the league who could do that.”

Jae Crowder made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:21 left for the Cavs, who came in as the NBA’s worst defensive team. Cleveland, though, buckled down in big spots and held the Heat to 3-of-28 shooting on 3-pointers.

“To win a game on the defen-sive side with the struggles we’ve had, that’s pretty impressive,” James said. “And versus this team, who’s had one of the best

records in the NBA in January. It was a big win for us.”

The Cavs rebounded from a troubling loss Tuesday at Detroit — the undermanned Pistons scored 125 points — and prevented the Heat from overtaking them for third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

It was Cleveland’s fi rst game since Love broke his left hand. The fi ve-time All-Star is con-sulting with surgeons in New York, and it’s possible he’ll undergo an operation as early as Thursday. Love, who could miss two months, already has screws in the hand from a previ-ous procedure after he broke it in 2009 with Minnesota.

(SD-Agencies)

MANCHESTER United and Chelsea couldn’t afford any slip-ups if they were to have even the slightest chance of catching Manchester City in the fi nal months of the Premier League.

Both lost Wednesday, and saw City rack up another big win to move even closer to the title.

United conceded inside 11 seconds to Christian Eriksen and was beaten 2-0 by Tottenham at Wembley Stadium in front of a record Premier League atten-dance of 81,978.

Chelsea had a more surprising loss, upset 3-0 by Bournemouth at home after conceding all the goals in a 16-minute spell in the second half.

City took its opportunity to push 15 points clear in what is turning into a procession to the title, beating West Brom-wich Albion 3-0 on the back of another masterful display by Kevin De Bruyne.

De Bruyne set up Fernandinho for the opener and then scored himself, before Sergio Aguero added a late third at Etihad Sta-dium. In the process, City went past 100 goals for the season in all competitions.

United stayed in second place while Chelsea dropped to fourth — below Liverpool on goal dif-ference — and is now 18 points behind City.

“We knew the distance to the leader was already considerable,

THE World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recommended to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it use 2016 doping sample bottles for the upcoming Winter Olympics after the agency’s inquiry into the 2017 version showed the bottles could be re-opened after a sample was produced.

On Tuesday, the IOC said it was “very concerned” about claims the new sample bottles, provided by Swiss manufacturer Berlinger, could be opened, and the Swedish anti-doping agency said it would stop using them.

WADA said in a statement Wednesday it had confi rmed that a proportion of the new generation of BEREG-KIT Geneva security bottles were “susceptible to manual opening without evidence of tampering, whether they have been frozen or not.” Those security bottles were introduced in September 2017.

After determining that some of the newer bottles could be “manually opened after initial proper locking,” WADA said it had sourced enough of the 2016 doping sample bottles, which

were fi rst used at the Rio Olym-pics, to cover the entire testing program for the PyeongChang Games, which start Feb. 9 in South Korea.

“At this stage, our clear recom-mendation to the IOC is that it continue to use the earlier model, which is still used by a number of testing authorities around the world. This should be seen as a precautionary measure that guarantees the integrity of the doping control process at the games,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said.

(SD-Agencies)

Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen (C) in action with Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez (L) and Jesse Lingard during their match at Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday. SD-Agencies

City extends lead; United, Chelsea lose

even before this match,” United manager Jose Mourinho said. “Now we have us, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal — we will be there fi ghting for three positions behind City.”

Leicester was without Riyad Mahrez for its trip to Everton, with the Algerian not included in the squad after being the subject of a bid from Man City on Tues-

day, and missed its star winger in a 2-1 loss at Goodison Park.

Burnley and Southampton came from behind to secure 1-1 draws against Newcastle and Brighton, respectively. Stoke and Watford drew 0-0.

So much for Man City’s loss at Liverpool on Jan. 14 reviving the title race.

It hasn’t derailed the leaders,

with City winning four straight games in all competitions — two coming in the league — in an impressive reaction to stay on course for an unlikely but increasingly possible quadruple of trophies.

City swotted aside West Brom for a 13th straight win in league matches between the teams.

(SD-Agencies)

LeBron’s late defense helps Cavs edge Heat

CSL clubs spend less but want more success

In this Dec. 12, 2016 fi le photo, the A and B sample bottles from the latest Berlinger Special BEREG-KIT for human urine doping testing are seen in London. SD-Agencies

CHINESE Super League (CSL) clubs may have reined in the massive spending that made headlines in recent years in the 2018 winter transfer window, but the country’s leading clubs still have ambitions to win the 2018 Asian Champions League that begins Feb. 12.

Guangzhou Evergrande has refrained from making an expensive signing from Europe, reiterating its target to fi eld an all-Chinese team by 2020. It is still a realistic contender for the 2018 Champions League title, however, to add to its wins in 2013 and 2015.

“The club has a proud record in Asia,” said coach Fabio Can-navaro after replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari as head coach of the team that has won the last seven Chinese Super League titles. “We know that it will not be easy but are looking forward to testing ourselves against the best teams in Asia.”

Guangzhou will take on Cerezo Osaka of Japan, South Korea’s Jeju United and Buriram United of Thailand, Southeast Asia’s sole representative, in Group G.

Only the top two from each of the eight groups of four, which are split into two geographic zones in the east and west of the continent, progress to the knockout stage.

Shanghai SIPG made the semifi nal in 2017 and then saw boss Andre Villas-Boas depart in November. Star players Oscar and Hulk, both signed in 2016 at a combined cost of over US$100 million, remain.Both will be key in a group containing Melbourne Victory of Australia and South Korea’s Ulsan Horangi.

“We know we have to improve in the group,” Oscar said after Shanghai defeated Changrai United of Thailand in a Jan. 30 playoff to move into the group stage. “We will be playing against some of the best in Asia, but we have experience in the tournament now and that will help us.”

Shanghai also faces Kawasaki Frontale. The Japanese cham-pions are the country’s biggest hope after Urawa Reds, Asian Champions last year, failed to qualify for the 2018 edition.

Tianjin Quanjian is making a debut appearance and with international stars such as Bel-gian international Axel Witsel, Alexandre Pato of Brazil and France’s Anthony Modeste, the team has a chance with new coach Paulo Sousa.

“It is great inspiration for Chinese football because there will be a new Chinese team playing in the Asian Champions League,” said Sousa. Tianjin will face Jeonbuk Motors. South Korea’s No. 1 cub won the 2016 tournament but was barred from defending its title last year after a club scout was found guilty of bribing referees in the K-League in 2013. (SD-Agencies)

WADA recommends IOC use old doping sample bottles in S. Korea

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (L) drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday. SD-Agencies